Use of enzymes in pig breeding. A Review

Gergana Yordanova, Radka Nedeva, Danail Kanev

Abstract: The use of exogenous enzymes gives producers a greater opportunity to use different feed
components in pig mixtures. In weaned pigs, amylase, protease and lipase activity is limited and
changes in the degree of digestibility of added enzymes can improve productivity and reduce the
cases of intestinal disorders caused by undigested nutrients.
The practice of feeding pigs on farms in Europe is to include a more diverse group of feeds in
the mix than in North America, where maize-soy mixtures are mainly used. This implies that the
addition of mixtures of cellulases, hemicellulases and proteases, can improve the digestibility of
complex carbohydrates and proteins from the more diverse cereals included. However, the use of
various enzyme complexes is controversial in this respect. The main reason is the activity and type of
enzymes, dosage and route of administration, age of the animals and their level of productivity. This
requires preliminary testing of some enzyme additives with insufficiently proven results in terms of
productivity.

Keywords: enzymes; nutrition; pigs

Date published: 2022-06-28